The following correspondence has been issued by Leeds County Court:-
Dear Court User
During the summer period we successfully implemented a programme of modifications to the provision of face to face services at our public counters in our civil and family courts. These have been implemented without any significant issues being raised by our court users.
Now that the summer period has ended we have looked again at the services we provide on a face to face basis and propose to implement some permanent alterations to the times our public counters will be open.
The changes being proposed will allow us to increase efficiency in the processing of court work by ensuring that more of our resources are focused on getting this done quicker. They will also mean that your visits to the court office will be limited to only those that are absolutely essential therefore removing unnecessary and wasted journeys.
The changes are being made in Civil & Family Courts across England & Wales and are in accordance with the Framework for the Provision of Front Office Services in the Civil Courts issued September 2008 and are being made with the agreement of the Designated Civil and Family Judges and the Delivery Director for this region.
Civil Courts in this context are Civil & Family County Courts & District Registries and includes Family Proceedings Courts (FPCs) which are co-located/unified within County Courts)
It does not include:
• The Civil business and FPC counters located within Magistrates’ Courts
• Standalone FPCs
I am, therefore, writing to advise you that with effect from 2nd April 2012 we plan to permanently change the times our public counters are open and the type of work they will be able to process at the public counter for all Civil and Family Courts in the North East Region. In future public counters plan to supply the following services:
Work which requires a face to face service from court staff and where there is currently no alternative method of providing that service will be dealt with via the public counter at the following times:
Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 11:30am.
Only the following process will be dealt with at the public counter:
- Swearing Affidavits
- Collecting orders/papers for service following an urgent hearing
- Swearing Statutory Declarations
- Attending orders for questioning
- Providing assistance to users who are unable to use alternative methods
Routine work, such as general enquiries, issuing process and lodging papers which does not require a face to face service will be diverted to alternative routes which are already in place such as on-line services, telephone, email and post.
Facilities will be put in place at Courts to enable documents with limitation or other time limits to be submitted.
Bailiffs’ offices will continue to open as they do now to facilitate payments on warrants and for court users to carry out face to face business with the Bailiffs
Urgent applications will be dealt with via the public counter at the following times:
Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 11:30am.
Urgent applications are defined as an application or document which needs to be issued or seen by a member of the judiciary within 24 hours.
These arrangements will not affect the courts’ ability to deal throughout the working day with any matters which should be dealt with immediately e.g. injunction applications and arrangements should be made with the Court as they are now via telephone.
Hearings will continue as normal. Members of the public attending hearings will still have access to court staff as necessary and there will be photocopying facilities available during this time. General Information for court users is available on the justice website www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmcts
Should you wish to comment on these proposals please respond using the attached form.
